Authors: Tsyurko B.O., Pelepeychenko A.Yu., Raskaley D.V., Kalyuzhny G.V., Makhinya O.V., Clinic of Neurology and Neuroorthopedics, Kyiv, Ukraine
Thiocolchicoside (Muscomed) is actively used in the USA and EU countries and has proven its effectiveness in a multicenter randomized double placebo-controlled study in acute low back pain [4, 5, 8, 9]. The study was conducted between July 1998 and March 2000 at five centers in 149 patients with acute low back pain treated with thiocolchicoside 2 ml twice daily IM for 5 days. The primary outcome measure was the presence of spontaneous pain on the Visual Assessment Scale (VAS). The finger-to-floor test and the use of paracetamol were used as secondary evaluation criteria. Both groups showed improvement in spontaneous pain assessed by the VAS at the end of day 1. Improvement was statistically significant in the thiocolchicoside group on day 3 (p < 0.001). Finger-sex distance significantly decreased on day 5 in the thiocolchicoside group (p < 0.0005 for both). According to the global patient assessment, 76.8% of patients in the thiocolchicoside group rated the treatment as very good (p < 0.0005). Treatment was well tolerated in both groups and no patients were withdrawn from the study due to adverse effects. As a result, it was found that the administration of 4 mg of thiocolchicoside twice a day for 5 days provides an effective and safe treatment of patients with acute low back pain complicated by myofascial pain syndrome.